‘Pushing west’: New subdivision pitches homes starting at $650,000s in west Cary
Once considered Cary’s final frontier, developers are pushing westward as land becomes scarcer.
David Ferrell, a longtime Cary resident and property developer, is moving ahead with plans to build 140 single-family homes on a 103-acre site in west Cary after the Town Council recently approved rezoning and annexation.
It spans three lots of mostly undeveloped woodlands: 45 Thompson Road, 1012 Lewter Shop Road, and an unaddressed parcel on Lewter Shop Road. Under the business name Ft. Mill Investments LLC, the Ferrell family purchased the properties for $6.23 million in 2021.
It’s the latest in a string of projects proposed for this fast-growing western corridor of Cary after Apple unveiled plans in 2021 for a campus in Research Triangle Park, just around the corner.
“We just thought it was a wise investment given the location and the current market,” Ferrell told the N&O.
His family has deep roots in the area. His great grandparents established the family farm on Morrisville Carpenter Road in 1898. Later known as Green Acres, the family sold the 80-acre farm for $20 million in 2017, Triangle Business Journal reported. Developers converted the farm into housing, and now they plan to do the same with these lots farther west.
“You’ve got Apple coming with a few thousand jobs. RTP has been a hot area for years. It trickles down to residential growth,” Ferrell said.
Cary’s westward expansion
The project’s total price tag remains unclear, he said. The plan is to break ground in early summer 2024. First homes are expected to become available in early 2025 and start at around $650,000.
There is another lingering matter. Ferrell said the family is undecided on whether to self-develop and sell to custom builders or bring in a national builder. A final call is expected in early 2024: “It just depends on what buyers bring to the table.”
The new zoning, residential 8, also comes with a few caveats. Among them: Density shouldn’t exceed 1.4 dwelling units per acre, and lots must be at least 10,000 square feet and even larger for perimeter lots and those on the west side of Thompson Road.
The site is also within Cary’s joint planning area within Chatham County, limiting development to mostly low-density residential.
Cary is one of the Triangle’s fastest growing inner suburbs as companies and developers flock to the area.
Heritage Capital Partners is planning a mixed-use project on a vacant 46-acre site along N.C. Highway 55. Arizona-based homebuilder Taylor Morrison is also bringing 190 two-story homes to the corner of Gilmore Bridge Drive and Morrisville Parkway.
“As demand continues in Cary, I can see in the near future that growth-boundary line moving even farther west,” Ferrell said. “Jordan Lake will kind of be a line in the sand in terms of how far they can go.”
This story was originally published August 15, 2023 at 3:13 PM with the headline "‘Pushing west’: New subdivision pitches homes starting at $650,000s in west Cary."
